+
Back in 2013 I proposed
+a
+way to make paper and PDF invoices easier to process electronically by
+adding a QR code with the key information about the invoice. I
+suggested using vCard field definition, to get some standard format
+for name and address, but any format would work. I did not do
+anything about the proposal, but hoped someone one day would make
+something like it. It would make it possible to efficiently send
+machine readable invoices directly between seller and buyer.
+
+
This was the background when I came across a proposal and
+specification from the web based accounting and invoicing supplier
+Visma in Sweden called
+UsingQR. Their PDF invoices contain
+a QR code with the key information of the invoice in JSON format.
+This is the typical content of a QR code following the UsingQR
+specification (based on a real world example, some numbers replaced to
+get a more bogus entry). I've reformatted the JSON to make it easier
+to read. Normally this is all on one long line:
+
+
+{
+ "vh":500.00,
+ "vm":0,
+ "vl":0,
+ "uqr":1,
+ "tp":1,
+ "nme":"Din Leverandør",
+ "cc":"NO",
+ "cid":"997912345 MVA",
+ "iref":"12300001",
+ "idt":"20151022",
+ "ddt":"20151105",
+ "due":2500.0000,
+ "cur":"NOK",
+ "pt":"BBAN",
+ "acc":"17202612345",
+ "bc":"BIENNOK1",
+ "adr":"0313 OSLO"
+}
+
+
+The interpretation of the fields can be found in the
+
format
+specification (revision 2 from june 2014). The format seem to
+have most of the information needed to handle accounting and payment
+of invoices, at least the fields I have needed so far here in
+Norway.
+
+
Unfortunately, the site and document do not mention anything about
+the patent, trademark and copyright status of the format and the
+specification. Because of this, I asked the people behind it back in
+November to clarify. Ann-Christine Savlid (ann-christine.savlid (at)
+visma.com) replied that Visma had not applied for patent or trademark
+protection for this format, and that there were no copyright based
+usage limitations for the format. I urged her to make sure this was
+explicitly written on the web pages and in the specification, but
+unfortunately this has not happened yet. So I guess if there is
+submarine patents, hidden trademarks or a will to sue for copyright
+infringements, those starting to use the UsingQR format might be at
+risk, but if this happen there is some legal defense in the fact that
+the people behind the format claimed it was safe to do so. At least
+with patents, there is always
+a
+chance of getting sued...
+
+
I also asked if they planned to maintain the format in an
+independent standard organization to give others more confidence that
+they would participate in the standardization process on equal terms
+with Visma, but they had no immediate plans for this. Their plan was
+to work with banks to try to get more users of the format, and
+evaluate the way forward if the format proved to be popular. I hope
+they conclude that using an open standard organisation like
+IETF is the correct place to
+maintain such specification.
+
+
Update 2016-03-20: Via Twitter I became aware of
+some comments
+about this blog post that had several useful links and references to
+similar systems. In the Czech republic, the Czech Banking Association
+standard #26, with short name SPAYD, uses QR codes with payment
+information. More information is available from the Wikipedia page on
+Short
+Payment Descriptor. And in Germany, there is a system named
+BezahlCode,
+(specification
+v1.8 2013-12-05 available as PDF), which uses QR codes with
+URL-like formatting using "bank:" as the URI schema/protocol to
+provide the payment information. There is also the
+ZUGFeRD
+file format that perhaps could be transfered using QR codes, but I am
+not sure if it is done already. Last, in Bolivia there are reports
+that tax information since november 2014 need to be printed in QR
+format on invoices. I have not been able to track down a
+specification for this format, because of my limited language skill
+sets.
+
+